Del. Luiz Simmons pointed out the committee supported the limited medical marijuana plan, currently advancing in the Senate, that involves academic research. Simmons said the measure to abandon jail time essentially legalizes small amounts of pot, rendering the medical marijuana program unnecessary.

Delegates also questioned if pot possession should still be a crime for minors, whether the law would hamper police's ability to enforce other drug laws and whether decriminalization would increase drug use.

"Believe it or not, there are people out there who have values, and they won't do something because it is a crime," said Del. Michael McDermott, a Worcester County Republican. If smoking marijuana were no longer a crime, McDermott argued, more people would smoke it.

"I want people not to use dope," McDermott said.

Dan Riffle with the Marijuana Policy Project and the bill's sponsor, Sen. Robert Zirkin, presented the panel with data from other states that showed decriminalization elsewhere did not cause an uptick in marijuana smoking.

"There are smarter ways to reduce marijuana use, and that is what we all want to do," Riffle said.

"I'm not looking to increase marijuana use," added Zirkin, a Baltimore County Democrat. He said the point was to relieve the justice system from drug prosecutions that aren't effective and aren't fairly applied.

"I don't believe, philosophically, that an individual with a joint should go to jail," Zirkin said.